Sweet Methodist Episcopal Church · Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 4.0Horseshoe Bend’s library runs 41 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Horseshoe Bend District serves 1,811 people in and around Horseshoe Bend. Last year it lent 8,320 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,875 visits.
What’s behind Horseshoe Bend’s civic life grade
Horseshoe Bend isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Horseshoe Bend District serves 1,811 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Horseshoe Bend District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
8,320 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,968 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Horseshoe Bend District, 392 Hwy 55, Horseshoe Bend.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Horseshoe Bend District branch.
New in Horseshoe Bend? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Horseshoe Bend cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $87K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $133K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $87K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 1,037 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Horseshoe Bend District serves 1,811 people in and around Horseshoe Bend, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Horseshoe Bend.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Horseshoe Bend
Does Horseshoe Bend have a public library?
Yes. Horseshoe Bend District, 392 Hwy 55, serves 1,811 people in and around Horseshoe Bend (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Horseshoe Bend District fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Horseshoe Bend’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 4.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Horseshoe Bend’s civic life grade?
Horseshoe Bend isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Horseshoe Bend.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.